


How To Successfully Be The Pokemon Champion

by Benfrosh



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, Post-Game, Spoilers, ah yes excessive postgame planning and game mechanical justification, the hot content everyone comes to ao3 for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 15:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8718382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Benfrosh/pseuds/Benfrosh
Summary: Moon promised Lillie she'd be the Pokemon Champion for years to come. This is harder than it sounds.





	

Moon sat on her throne. This was the only boring part of being Champion - after she finished the ceremonial combat against the Elite Four to prove that she was still worthy of the title of Champion, she had to wait for the upcoming challenger to properly beat them before she could face them in an honorable duel. While very prim and proper and resulting in a fantastic show for the challenger, rising the stairs to see the Champion waiting for them, it meant she had to sit around for a half hour waiting without much to do.

(She had been afraid, originally, that the chair was going to be extremely cold to sit in, even in the pleasant Alola temperatures. When she sat in it for her first title defense, however, she discovered that Kukui had installed a seat warmer, and it was actually quite pleasant to sit on. Not very comfortable for her back, but at least she could relax while she waited.)

Moon drummed her fingers on the arm rest. With nothing else to do, her thoughts drifted to Lillie. When Lillie finally came back to Alola, Moon wanted to impress her with an uninterrupted title reign, and promised it to her. But when she had made that promise, she hadn't considered the actual, practical implications of it.

Moon took out a notebook and a pencil from her handy pack. Scribbling in her notebook, she did the math. According to Kukui, the average Champion in other regions got about one challenge a day. She had been fighting a lot more than that, averaging four or five a day, but that was probably just people excited about the new league and rushing to challenge it. Assuming that properly died down, and Lillie came back in two years...

2 * 365 = 730

Seven hundred and thirty title defenses. And if she had a 99% chance of winning each one, guessing from how many battles she had won to get here...

Moon scratched at her head. Her mom had made her study statistics at a really young age, and now she saw why. But it still took some time to recall how exactly to calculate it. Finally she remembered - at a 99% chance to win each one, she needs to multiply the chance she wins the first one by the chance she wins the second one by... and so on, to find the chance she'll win all of them. She scribbled down

.99 ^ 730 =

before fishing out a calculator from her pack. She dutifully typed it in and wrote down the result.

.99 ^ 730 = 0.00065

A 0.065% chance of still being champion in two years. Moon blanched. Being a ninety-nine percent favorite in every single battle and she was still almost certain to lose it? She briefly thought about how to calculate how to get the rate she needed to win at. She figured she wanted a 99% chance of still being the champion. So...

x ^ 730 = 0.99

So that's just 0.99 ^ (1/730). She typed that into her calculator and got:

99.99986%

She could only afford to lose one in one million battles.

Moon put her calculator away and paused in thought, tapping her pencil against her notebook.

A loss rate of one in one million. That wasn't something that was going to happen by accident. 

Moon thought some more. Then, she began to write down a plan.

\---

Step one: Eliminate as many variables as possible.

If she could focus on dealing with plain, regular Pokémon, she would have a base to build off of. It was the unusual ones that posed the largest threats - the ones with abilities far beyond those of normal Pokémon, but limited in number. If she could control all of them and know where they were, she could be assured they wouldn't come for her.

First, at the request of the International Police, she helped them track down the Ultra Beasts that had broken into the world. She had been planning to do it anyways, to help protect people from being attacked by the rampaging Ultra Beasts, but now she was personally invested in it. One by one, she captured every single one, tagging them and securing them in her personal PC storage. Sure, to the International Police, she was doing them a favor by containing the Ultra Beasts and preventing major incidents with their transport and study, but it also meant there were nine fewer Pokémon out in the world that posed a threat to her. And as she caught them, she noted the ones that stood out to her the most, and marked them for further study. In the Ultra Beasts, she saw a unique opportunity to train threats that ordinary trainers would not expect to deal with.

Secondly, with that threat resolved, she returned to the Aether Foundation and chatted with Gladion. As the sole trainer of Silvally currently out there, she hoped to ascertain his motives and determine his intentions - only he could bring a Silvally team to compete against her, and so he needed to be understood. Unfortunately, it was the worst case scenario - not only was he intending on challenging the championship, he revealed the existence of two more Type: Nulls that were currently in storage. However, it wasn't all a loss - he gave her one of the Type: Nulls to train. Another tool for the kit, and one less threat in the world. She made a note of the remaining Type: Null and began to brainstorm how to deal with it as she continued with the first step of her plan.

Thirdly, the Tapus. The powerful guardian deity Pokémon of Alola, they unfortunately needed to be contained. Currently, she had their respect by defending the islands in their time of trouble, and they would show themselves to her. If someone else earned that same respect down the line, they could possibly catch the Tapus and use them to unseat her. So she steeled herself and went to each Tapu in turn, forcing them after much struggle into Poké Balls. After analyzing them with the Pokédex, she discovered she was right to fear the possibility - any one of them could be the lynchpin for an aggressively powerful team that could've bulldozed through her old team. She loved her Mudsdale and her Wishiwashi, but they would crumple under the might of Tapu Bulu and Tapu Koko, let alone Tapu Fini and Tapu Lele. So she made notes of their abilities, and she continued to plan.

Fourthly, Zygarde. She was the only one with a Zygarde Cube, as far as she was aware. But she still had no idea who Sinio and Dex where, or what capabilities they had, or how many Zygarde Cubes they might have in reserve. So she spent a week crawling every inch of every island, day and night, tracking down every single cell of Zygarde that had spread across the land. She assembled Zygarde Complete, marveled at his power, and stored him in the box. At this point, her PC box had more combined Pokémon potential than some entire regions. She pressed on.

Fifthly, she [THE FOLLOWING SECTION HAS BEEN REDACTED BY ORDERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE. THE INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED AT THE TOP SECRET - EYES ONLY LEVEL. IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT CLEARANCE TO ACCESS THIS INFORMATION, YOU DON'T.] and secured the last Cosmog.

Finally, the rumors of the mysterious black beast flying around Melemele Island. She thought it was just a baseless rumor, but she could afford no opportunities for surprises. So she investigated it. She found it. And she caught it. 

At last, she had succeeded in minimizing the variables, and in the process assembled a team of awesome raw potential, unmatched by anyone in Alola - as far as she was aware. But that wasn't enough.

\---

Step two: Assembling a team.

No one yet was powerful enough to threaten her position as champion. Decidueye, Mudsdale, and Magnezone combined were enough to cement her reign. So with them as her vanguards, she used the time to begin planning what her team would look like. 

Tapu Lele seemed perfect. Her Psychic Surge prevented the quick, unusual Pokémon attacks from striking her, cutting off an entire avenue of attack that slower Pokémon could use to upset the playing field. Lele was definitely going in.

UB-02, Beauty, seemed like another perfect match. She was fragile, but her speed and offensive might were unmatched. A Pokémon like that could easily tear through an unprepared team. Moon had thought on it, and realized that the Pokémon that gave her the best chances of victory were ones that each, unanswered, could take out an entire team on their own. By rotating through answers, she could pose an insurmountable threat to anyone. 

It was with that in mind that she saw, scrolling through her Pokédex, the entry for Toxapex, the apex predator. Its offensive might was nonexistant, but its hard shell made it nearly unkillable. Combined with its deadly poison and recoverative capabilities, and its ability to shoot burning hot water, made it an amazing unassailable fortress. She made a note of it in her team listings, a page in her book covered in scratchy notes and scribbled out ideas.

Hmm. Toxapex was vulnerable to electric, ground, and psychic attacks. She didn't have an answer to electric yet, but she saw the answer to ground and psychic. UB-04, Blaster, heavily resisted psychic and floated above any ground based assault. Combined with its ability to leech the life from its opponents and its massive bulk, it was an easy slot into any party with Toxapex. Plus it, itself, could beat Toxapex with its immunity to poison and its ability to cause earthquakes by slamming into the ground.

This left her with a glaring weakness in both of her tanks to electric attacks, however. She silently gave thanks she had successfully caught Tapu Koko. His electric attacks would've easily torn through her team, and the number one candidate she considered for resisting electricity, Garchomp, would've been torn to shreds by his Fairy attacks. She scrolled through her Pokédex some more, before pausing. She had ruled out Zygarde before, because he was banned from most international competition (any Pokémon spoken of in myth and legend was banned, as she discovered, which came up surprisingly often. The Tapus somehow managed to sneak in on account of interacting with people on a semi-regular basis, so were considered 'regular rare' Pokémon instead of 'mythical'.) But there was no bylaw against the Alola champion using mythical Pokémon. She quickly wrote down Zygarde, pleased with herself.

That left one slot free with no obvious problems to take care of. She didn't want to use another tricky Pokémon when she had Tapu Lele who could accidentally shut down the tricks on her side as well. She decided to go with UB-03, Lighting. If nothing else, it could hit like a truck, and take out any particulary defensive Pokémon her challengers brought.

She put down the pencil, and smiled. She finally had a team. She sat up from her throne to face the next challenger.

\---

Step three: Training.

She assembled her team, and she trained. And trained. And trained. And trained. 

And trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained, and trained.

At the end, she calculated the final sum. She had fainted 1,232 Pokémon, between the ones she fought to train her new team in particular styles and the ones she fought for the raw experience. If she hadn't been more careful, she might have completely disrupted the ecosystems. Thankfully, Aether Foundation had helped her restore the wild Pokémon to health after the fact, but she still felt a twinge of guilt.

\---

Step four: Test.

Her next challenger came up. A young boy, Tristan, she had fought in a battle way back at the start of her journey.

He sent out a level 59 Emolga, according to her Pokédex.

Moon sent out a level 100 Toxapex.

His team slowly died, one after the other, as none of them even put a scratch in Toxapex, her apex predator.

She was content.

\---

See, Moon had realized, way back when she started planning, that it wasn't just skill in battle alone that could ensure a multi-year title reign. If enough people challenged her, something, somewhen would go horribly wrong, and she would lose, even if she thought she was the strongest trainer for miles around. No, the only way to be truly safe was to discourage as many challenges as possible. To demoralize any who might think they could beat her - to cripple their willpower, to make them think they could not and would not ever pose a threat to her.

Today, Moon smiled. Because Kukui had told her that no one was planning to challenge the undisputed Pokémon Champion today.

She couldn't wait for Lillie to come back.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, all the math that Moon does in this fic is math I myself did as an 11 year old!
> 
> I was a really nerdy 11 year old.
> 
> Then again, so is Moon.


End file.
